> Bob Tunnell whooped every ESP driver that competed against him all year,
> including 1+ second wins in the ProSolo Finale and the Solo II National
> Championship. I haven't seen ESPL results yet, but I expect about a 4-5
> second win for Patty Tunnell. They both beat established national champions
> and national champions by large margins ALL YEAR LONG.
I congratulate them on a great season. Patty has been astounding all
year.
> But perhaps the most obvious reason the M3 doesn't belong in ESP is a driver
> who has proved nothing prior to this year, ending up in THIRD PLACE at the
> national championships. Todd's a very good driver, but no where near the
> level of driving his results in ESP show.
Note that 3rd place was much more distant from 2nd than 2nd was from
1st. Where are all the Pony Car drivers between Mark and Todd? That
nobody slipped into that 1.8 second gap isn't Todd's fault. Maybe we
need to move the 88 Firebirds too? Take the top two M3s out, the closest
late model Pony Car is 2.6 seconds behind!
Based on that, I'd leave the M3s, Talons, and older Pony Cars in one
class and move the overweight late model Pony Cars to a new playground
where they can be competitive. They're apparently not going to be
competitive against 88 Firebirds and Talons as well as M3s. Move just
the M3 and next year is no different for them.
> It would be gravy if all the people who called me a whiner would say "I was
> wrong", but it's not important.
The subtle point you miss Jeff is that there isn't a hint of a
relationship between your being right or wrong and your being a whiner.
> It is unfortunate that national champion level drivers were deprived a
> national championship this year because of the SCCA's decision. Paula
> Whitney and (probably) Eileen Lindberg should have had a ProSolo and Solo
> National Championship. Mark Madaresh should have had his 2nd in a row.
>
I said we should wait until the end of the season and look at it again.
I hold to that. It needs to be looked at again now. I do think the class
needs an overhaul based on this year's results. The classing authorities
will make the right decision and that decision needn't be accompanied by
attempts to cheapen a national championships by implying it was somehow
invalid based on some gross error in classing. Bob still could have
coned every run or gotten his tire pressures wrong or just flat out had
a bad day. He didn't... he never does.
And as I said, it needs to be looked at, but moving the M3 isn't
necessarily the answer. Moving overweight, uncompetitive cars is also a
viable option. 3700 lb Mustangs?
> And ESP attendence at the Solo II nationals was DOWN 30+% despite overall
> Nationals attendence being UP about that much. So a lot of people who should
> have been having fun competing in ESP at this event, didn't.
That's a shame. I'm going to be there next year. I'll be lucky to finish
mid pack yet I still want to go. ESP, BSP, CSP... doesn't matter, I'll
be there. And although there's no proof of why attendance is down (and
personally I don't think ESP was afraid of Bob), if it is because people
felt there was no chance of winning because their class was too
difficult, I say good riddance.
> It's not clear who was happy this year, other than BMW, a few BMW
> aftermarket companies, and a few M3 drivers.
BMW cut back on their LeMans series effort to focus of F1... you think
SCCA Solo-II breaks squelch with them? Maybe Jenson Button will get a
factory sponsored ESP M3 ride next year?
--
Ron Katona
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